Coronavirus pandemic causes shift in environmental, sustainability efforts
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With its economic and health impacts unmistakable, the coronavirus pandemic is revealing environmental tradeoffs as it lingers on.
From a spike in hand-sanitizing wipes to paper towels to personal protective equipment (PPE), sustainability has been moved to the back burner.
“In the middle of a global health pandemic, you want to follow CDC guidelines,” Aurora Sharrard, Director of Sustainability at the University of Pittsburgh, said of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. “With everything we’re seeing with covid-19, hand-washing and face masks are the primary health approaches recommended.”
When Giant Eagle unveiled its mega-initiative in December to rid its stores of single-use plastics, store leaders could not have foreseen an impending global pandemic that would later unravel.
The coronavirus outbreak has shifted concerns, moving public health to the top of the list.
Giant Eagle in March made the decision to temporarily discontinue allowing reusable bags, reversing its initiative to reward shoppers with perks who carried them to the stores.
During the pandemic, the O’Hara-based retailer has returned to using plastic or paper bags, both of which are temporarily free to customers.
“Sustainability remains a focus of the company, but through this pandemic our top priority is and will continue to be the health and well-being of our team members and guests,” Dick Roberts, company spokesperson, said.
Sharrard, former executive director at Green Building Alliance, said that while people are shifting to fewer hand-to-hand reusables, we don’t have to put them aside altogether.
“You’re not supposed to bring reusable bags into the store,” she said. “But there’s nothing that says you can’t take the groceries out to your car and load them into a reusable bag in your trunk.”
Officials are evaluating covid-19 and its evolving circumstances daily, Roberts said.
Early on, Giant Eagle’s perk incentive program prevented more than 2 million plastic bags from clogging the waste stream.
When the time is right, the effort toward banning single-use plastics will return, Roberts said.
Covid-19 represents a number of similar trade-offs, Sharrard said.
“We’re making a lot of decisions that put health first,” she said. “We’re seeing benefits on global energy use and ecosystems but that are negative on the economy and mental health.”
One of the most significant benefits has been to air quality, with a number of people working from home and social distancing, and far fewer cars on the road.
Swiss company IQAir reported a dramatic drop in air pollution as a result of people staying home, walking, riding bikes and reducing the number of trips to grocery stores and other retailers.
It recommended several tips for maintaining the air quality benefits after the economy begins to open. Ride-sharing, walking and limiting trips to the store are among them.